Mouse-guard attachment for piano-pedals.



H. O. COLLIER. MOUSE GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR PIANO PEDALS. APPLICATIONFILED 001. 18, 1912 1,086,648. Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

NESS INVENTOR4 of. 3. fi'/uy (fa/liar ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLAN o4 HENRYC. COLLIER, OF MEXIA, TEXAS.

MOUSE-GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR PIANO-PEDALS.

Application filed October 18, 1912.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY C. COLLIER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Mexia, in the county ofLimestone and State of Texas, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Mouse-Guard Attachments for Piano-Pedals, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful mouse guard attachment forpiano pedals.

In the ordinary construction of upright pianos, the pedals projectthrough slots pro vided in the lower front portion of the instrument, afew inches above the floor. In its normal position, a piano pedaloccupies the upper portion of the slot, and a small aperture intervenesbetween the pedal and the bottom of the slot which is formed, as a rule,by the bottom member of the piano. In some makes of pianos, thisaperture is of suflicient size to permit mice to enter the casing of theinstrument, and even though the aperture may be in the first place toosmall to permit a mouse to pass, it has been found that mice willenlarge the aperture by gnawing, and thus enter the casing of theinstrument. It has furthermore been found that the mechanism of theinterior construction of pianos has been in many cases badly injured bythe depredation of mice.

It is the object of the present invent-ion to avoid this injury tovaluable property by securing an attachment to a piano pedal that willabsolutely prevent mice from ontering the casing of the instrumentthrough the aperture in which the pedal is mounted.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described, that will b strong, durable, simple and eflicientand comparatively easy to construct.

With these objects in view, my invention has relation to certain novelfeatures of the construction, an example of which is described in thefollowing specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Figure 1 is a front view of that portion of a piano casing through whicha pedal projects, the herein-described device being shown attached tothe pedal. Fig. 2 is a transverse, vertical, sectional view of the same,taken upon the line X-X of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail, perspective viewof a metal plate, which forms the mouse guard proper.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 10, 1 914-.

Serial No. 726,466.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, wherein like referencecharacters designate similar parts in all the figures, the letter Adenotes the front wall of a piano casing, and B designates one of theslots in the bottom portion of said wall, through which one of the pianopedals C projects. A member D forming the bot tom. of the piano casing,has its front edge projecting beneath the slot B forming a bottomthereto. A downwardly projecting lug E is formed integrally upon thepedal C, flush with the front wall of the casing, as is clearly shown inFig, 2 of the drawing. This lug E is found on some makes of pianos andis supposed to exclude mice, and it is sh own merely to illustrate thefact that it would not interfere with the application of the hereindescribed invention. Just in front of the lug E, a metal plate F, bentat right angle substantially at its center,

has one of its angular portions contiguously secured to the underside ofthe pedal by a means presently to be described. The other angularportion of the plate F projects downwardly beyond the lug E and then isinclined rearwardly at a downward inclination, so as to completely coverthe aperture intervening between the lug E and the bottom member D ofthe casing.

The plate F is held in its proper relation to the pedal C by a clampingbracket of substantially U shape, one arm of said bracket beingcontiguous with the top surface of the pedal, and conforming to theshape of said surface, as designated by G, and the other arm of saidbracket being made to project transversely beneath the pedal, a shortspace beneath the horizontal portion of the plate F, as indicated at H.A vertical clamping screw J is passed upwardly through the bracket armH, and carries upon its upper end a clamping plate K adapted to bearagainst the horizontal portion of the plate F. From the foregoingdescription, it is apparent that the plate F may be securely engagedbetween the under side of the pedal 0 and the clamping plate K, thisresult being accomplished by tightening the clamping screw J.

It is to be noted that the clamp bracket does not detract from theappearance of the sides and top of the pedal. There are no upstandinglugs or projections on the top of the pedal to injure the playersslippers or catch in her skirts. It has been found that owing to theirregular and tapered contours of pedals a clamp depending uponfrictional engagement with the sides and top only of a pedal, will nothold and will be subject to displacement longitudinally ot' the pedal.The particular form of the plate F is not of consequence as thedepending portion of the same is often bent to conform to a particularpiano front construction.

What I claim is:

In a piano pedal guard the combination of an angular plate shaped to liein contact with the under side of a pedal and having a depending flangeadapted to cover the pedal opening in the front of an upright pianobelow the pedal, a flat clamp member adapted to embrace the piano pedaland lie flat on top of the same, said clamp having an under hangingportion adapted to lie under the plate and spaced below the same, athumb screw threaded. upward through the underhanging portion of theclamp, and a flat follower plate swiveled on the upper end of the screwand adapted to impinge the under side of the plate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY C. COLLIER.

lVitnesses CALLIE MORGAN, .T. S. MURRAY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Pntentl,

Washington, D. G.

